There are numerous applications where it would be advantageous to accurately count the yield, or number of kernels on an ear of corn. The number and characteristic of the kernels on an ear of corn dictate the value of the corn. For example, an ear having more kernels, and in particular more large, round kernels, may command a higher price. Accurately counting and characterizing the kernels on an ear of corn therefore results in better valuation of the ear of corn, which may be used as representative in valuing an entire field or crop (or portion thereof) of corn. Ascertaining an accurate count and characterization of kernels is important not only to the buyers and sellers of the corn, but also to non-parties peripheral to the transaction, such as an insurance company insuring the corn prior to sale.
Currently, kernel counts may be determined by hand counting, in some cases coupled with further manual estimating performed based on those hand counts. The National Corn Growers Association promulgates one such manual counting method. These traditional methods suffer from a number of drawbacks, including inaccuracy due to miscounting or even bad handwriting. Such mistakes in counting or estimating are typically unintentional, and likely unavoidable given the vulnerability to human error, but the inability to easily verify a hand count or estimate based thereon may also conceal fraud or other willful misreporting when it occurs. There is an incentive for a buyer, for example, to undervalue a crop of corn, and for a seller to overvalue the crop. Improper estimates of yield may also lead to defrauding of insurance companies, or, on the other hand, of farmers being inadequately compensated by insurance in the event of damage to the crop. In short, the high risk of human error, inaccuracy, and a lack of verifiability associated with traditional methods dampens any confidence in kernel counts or estimates they generate.